Despite the high price I get the impression that HD pieces suffer from similar flaws to those that the cheaper companies (TL included) experience; I base this over what I've read on the HD forum and other forums. Occasionally ventilation being wrong, dryer/more brittle hair, order delays and so on..factory based problems pretty much. As lee mentioned, you're really paying for a good guarantee and a little bit of hand holding (but nothing you couldn't find here or on another forum).. If I had to choose between the two it'd be TL without a doubt.